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The youngest Brontë, oddly, takes every other one, assuming them to be bland and inoffensive (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

anodyne

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'to be bland and inoffensive' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'the youngest bronte oddly takes' is the wordplay.
'the youngest bronte' becomes 'anne' (I've seen this in another clue).
'oddly' becomes 'ody' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'takes' is an insertion indicator (take can mean to capture or invade).
'anne' enclosing 'ody' is 'ANODYNE'.

'every other one assuming them' acts as a link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for anodyne that I've seen before include "lacking inspiration" , "Painkilling (medicine)" , "Unlikely to offend" , "Avoiding controversy - done any (anag)" , "painkiller" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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